Giants QB Russell Wilson bertujuan untuk membuktikan keraguan salah: 'Saya tidak pernah kurang percaya diri'

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — It’s been nearly 15 years since Shea Tierney was a student with Russell Wilson at North Carolina State, and in some ways not much has changed. He still sees Wilson’s cannon arm, his athletic ability and his accuracy. He can tell Wilson’s brain is as sharp as ever, too.

Back then, of course, Wilson was an undersized underdog, trying to prove a legion of doubters wrong. Now he’s got a Super Bowl ring, 10 trips to the Pro Bowl and a résumé that might someday put him in the Hall of Fame.

And as for those doubters … well, in some ways, not much has changed there either. Wilson may be 36 now and in the twilight of a great career, but the 5-foot-11, 206-pound quarterback seems to have something to prove to the world again.

“I think that’s the great thing about Russell is he’s always done that,” said Tierney, who is now the quarterbacks coach for the Giants, Wilson’s latest team. “But I think Russ would be the first to tell you he’s always got high expectations for himself. I think he’s more so trying to prove it to himself.”

It shouldn’t be that way, of course — not after 46,135 passing yards, 350 touchdowns and 121 wins in a 13-year career. But the last few years have been a rickety roller-coaster ride for the five-time All-Pro. He had gone to nine Pro Bowls in 10 seasons in Seattle before the Seahawks traded him to Denver rather than give him a lucrative contract at age 33. The Broncos gave him the money — five years, $245 million with $165 million guaranteed — but the results were disastrous. In his first year in Denver, he had a career-low 60.5 completion percentage and was sacked a career-high 55 times on a team that went 5-12 — just the second losing season of his career.

Wilson bounced back the next season, but the Broncos — and new coach Sean Payton — were so done with him that they ate a record $85 million in dead money to cut him loose. He landed in Pittsburgh, where he played well after recovering from a preseason calf injury, finishing with 2,482 yards, 16 touchdowns and just five interceptions in 11 games. But he and the Steelers faded down the stretch — five straight losses to end their season against a brutal schedule. That left such a bitter taste that, rather than re-sign him, the Steelers chose to go with the enigmatic, 41-year-old Aaron Rodgers instead.

Even worse, their Plan B wasn’t Wilson. They first tried to re-sign his backup, Justin Fields, who eventually landed with the Jets.

And so, Russell Wilson is on his fourth team in five years — not exactly the way a potential future Hall of Famer wants to ride into the sunset of his career. 

“Sometimes in this game, things don’t bounce your way, don’t go the way you want them to,” Tierney said. “You’ve just got to be resilient with that. And that’s the biggest thing that Russ has done. I think he’d be the first one to tell you, ‘Yeah, the last couple of years have not gone the way I really wanted it to.’

“But he’s ready for the next challenge.”

Wilson has been ready for the challenge of New York for a while. The rumors that he wanted to play here, and that his famous wife — Grammy-winning singer Ciara — wanted to live here go back long before he actually left Seattle. And a year ago, a fan snapped a picture of him at Newark Airport at the start of free agency and posted it on social media. Turns out Wilson was in town to meet with the Giants before he headed to Pittsburgh to sign with the Steelers.

This March it finally happened — at least once the Giants decided not to wait for Rodgers to make up his mind. New York gave Wilson a one-year, $10.5 million deal with incentives that could double its value. And he quickly embraced the celebrity side of his new job. He’s been courtside at Knicks and New York Liberty games. He’s hung around the batting cage at Yankee Stadium. He even walked the red carpet with Ciara at the Met Gala.

Of course, it’s all great now. The Giants were 3-14 last season and the expectations are low. The organization and New York fans are still stinging from the collapse of QB Daniel Jones, who crumbled under the weight of injuries after signing a four-year, $160 million contract in 2023. The franchise has been in an offensive desert, really, since Eli Manning retired in 2020. The Giants have averaged an anemic 17.1 points per game over the past five years, finishing in the bottom four in total offense in four of those seasons.

And that’s largely because, while Jones was struggling and battling constant injuries, the team was rolling out a roster of quarterbacks that included Colt McCoy, Mike Glennon, Jake Fromm, Davis Webb, Tommy DeVito, Tyrod Taylor and Drew Lock.

Wilson is an obvious upgrade. Yes, the bar is low, but the anticipation of his impact on the offense is high. Privately, the Giants are absolutely convinced they would’ve been a .500 team at least last season if they had gotten even marginal quarterback play. General manager Joe Schoen has done a remarkable job of rebuilding the rest of the roster after the Dave Gettleman Error, creating some fiscal stability and amassing some impressive young talent, like receiver Malik Nabers, edge rushers Kayvon Thibodeaux and Brian Burns, and a professional offensive line that could be much improved.

The Giants face a brutal schedule, but they still believe that the right quarterback could conceivably bring them to the edge of playoff contention.

And this time, with Wilson, they think they got it right.

“He’s been a guy that, when you look at what he’s done from Seattle to Pittsburgh, it was a mesh and fit for our scheme,” said Giants assistant GM Brandon Brown. “We knew we needed to push the ball down the field a lot more. You guys have seen him do that in practice. That’s an ability and knack that is unique for Russ.”

It’s been clear this summer that Wilson still has the arm to unleash his famous “moon ball,” which could be transformational for the Giants’ strong core of receivers. And it’s not just about Nabers, their young, potential superstar wideout. They have speed and deep threats in veteran Darius Slayton and young Jalin Hyatt who could see their numbers transform, too.

“He has amazing talent with the ball,” Slayton said of Wilson. “Accuracy, great touch on the deep balls. I don’t really know that he’s missed more than one or two deep balls this whole camp. He is really accurate, really smart.”

But what attracted the Giants to Wilson was more than that. After years of dealing with quarterbacks trying to find their way, following more than leading, they are almost relieved to have someone who has already been to the top and back.

“You look at the leadership component,” Brown said. “When you see what Russ has done since he got here: Within the first two weeks, he’s bringing Jalin Hyatt out to L.A. and they’re working out privately. He’s getting all the skill guys together down in Atlanta, scheduling a dinner with the O-line and running backs.

“Remember, our nucleus has been really young throughout our time here. Him having that veteran leadership on the offensive side as well as having the ability to complement what Dabs [head coach Brian Daboll] Ingin selesai dari posisi quarterback, kami pikir itu sangat cocok. “

Daboll setuju, dan menekankan standar yang ditetapkan Wilson setiap kali ia melangkah di lapangan.

“Dia pro,” kata Daboll. “Ada alasan mengapa dia memiliki karier yang dia miliki. Ketika Anda melihat etos kerjanya, komitmennya untuk menjadi versi terbaik dari dirinya sendiri, bagaimana dia berada di sini di latihan, sifat -sifat kepemimpinannya di dalam para pemain, komunikasi – bukan hanya dengan penerima, ujung yang ketat, berlari kembali, tetapi dengan garis ofensif – dia adalah tambahan yang baik bagi kita.”

Untuk saat ini, itu tampaknya benar. Tapi berapa lama?

Realitas yang tidak dinyatakan dari kesepakatan Wilson dengan Giants adalah bahwa ia sangat mungkin seorang penjaga satu tahun di posisi itu. Kembali pada bulan April, Schoen memperdagangkan pick putaran kedua dan dua pertiga untuk kembali ke babak pertama untuk menyusun quarterback Ole Miss Jaxson Dart di No. 25. Dia tidak dapat disangkal diharapkan menjadi quarterback Giants di masa depan, kemungkinan dimulai tahun depan.

Giants, menurut beberapa sumber tim, benar -benar baik -baik saja dengan gagasan Dart tidak bermain sama sekali di musim rookie -nya. Tetapi jika mereka mendapati diri mereka keluar dari pertarungan playoff di babak kedua, mereka mungkin berubah pikiran. Yang berarti pencarian Wilson untuk menghidupkan kembali Giants dan membuktikan bahwa dia masih quarterback elit mungkin tidak punya banyak waktu.

Bukannya dia terganggu dengan itu pada tahap karirnya.

“Dan pada akhirnya, Anda harus bermain,” kata Wilson. “Saya beruntung bisa membuat permainan untuk waktu yang lama, dan itu ada di film. Banyak yang hanya: Anda mempelajarinya, Anda mempelajarinya dan tumbuh dan terus menjadi lebih baik. Dan Anda mengabaikan kebisingan dan Anda tetap menunduk dan terus bekerja. Saya juga bekerja di atasnya. Saya pikir bagian terakhir dari itu adalah bahwa saya pikir bakat mental saya pasti sangat kuat.

Dengan kata lain, dia tidak peduli apa yang dipikirkan orang lain. Dia yakin dengan apa yang masih bisa dia lakukan.

“Saya pikir Anda selalu hanya mencoba membuktikan diri Anda benar,” tambah Wilson. “Aku tahu apa yang bisa aku lakukan setiap hari. Aku tidak pernah kurang percaya diri.”

Giants juga percaya diri. Dan mereka berusaha keras untuk “membiarkan Russ memasak” dalam pelanggaran mereka musim ini. Meskipun mereka sepakat untuk berdamai dengan dia hanya empat hari setelah mereka menandatangani veteran QB Jameis Winston, Daboll dengan cepat menjelaskan bahwa Wilson adalah starternya. Giants bahkan belum menghibur gagasan bahwa Dart juga menjulang di bahunya. Mereka telah memberikan Wilson Leeway untuk memimpin tim mereka.

Dan dia telah menetap di pekerjaan itu dengan nyaman saat dia menetap di loker barunya di fasilitas pelatihan Giants-bukan kebetulan yang sama yang dia gunakan selama minggu latihan sebelum dia memimpin Seahawks menang 43-8 atas Broncos di Super Bowl XLVIII di Stadion Metlife.

Jika lima tahun terakhir telah membebani Wilson, dia tentu saja tidak menunjukkannya. Dia merangkul setiap aspek pekerjaan barunya, dari selebriti hingga harapan hingga tuduhan untuk memimpin rekan satu tim barunya keluar dari hutan belantara. Dia terus bergerak selama latihan, mendorong rekan satu tim dan merayakan kesuksesan mereka. Dan, dalam perubahan besar dari quarterback Giants selama lima tahun terakhir, ia memberikan jawaban yang luas untuk pertanyaan, memungkinkan penyelaman mendalam ke dalam pemikirannya, dan tampaknya tidak pernah tanpa senyum khasnya.

“Mungkin aku sering kali kelinci energizer,” kata Wilson. “Tapi saya pikir saya selalu terus bekerja pada saya. Kita semua tumbuh, kita semua belajar, kita semua berkembang. Kita semua memiliki pasang surut. Saya memiliki banyak tertinggi, dan terendah hanyalah pelajaran di sepanjang jalan. Bukan kerugian. Mereka hanya pelajaran.”

Inti dari tim Giants ini telah mengalami banyak pelajaran itu selama beberapa tahun terakhir. Wilson, dengan cara yang berbeda, telah mengalami banyak hal juga. Harapannya adalah bahwa mereka semua dapat belajar dari mereka bersama. Keyakinannya adalah bahwa Wilson dapat meremajakan waralaba, sementara itu membantu memberi energi kembali padanya.

Tidak akan ada banyak waktu untuk melakukannya, dan Wilson tahu itu tidak akan mudah. Tapi sama seperti dia masih remaja di NC State, dia siap untuk tantangan – mungkin lebih siap dari sebelumnya.

“Jika ada orang yang telah diuji pertempuran, saya,” kata Wilson. “Aku bisa menangani apapun.”

Ralph Vacchiano adalah reporter NFL untuk Fox Sports. Dia menghabiskan enam tahun menutupi raksasa dan Jet Untuk SNY TV di New York, dan sebelum itu, 16 tahun meliput Giants dan NFL untuk New York Daily News. Ikuti dia di Twitter di @Ralphvacchiano.

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